by Jenn Vakey
“Okay,” he said, then flashed a playful smirk. “Don’t be surprised if it’s the first thing I tell people when we get back, though. Even before giving details about Eden.”
Seeing that eagerness there made me feel bad for ever doubting him. For ever thinking that there was a reason for keeping what was happening between us a secret.
“That will make for an interesting meeting,” I grinned back. “Hopefully dethroning Dex will also be enough of a distraction to prevent most of the drama.” Because even if they were friends, Maizie was going to hate me as soon as she found out. I wouldn’t even put it past her to keep up her attempts to win him back. Not that I would share that belief with him. And who could blame her? Rhydian was a catch. “You never said why the two of you broke up.”
Rhydian groaned, running his fingers absentmindedly up and down my spine. It tickled, distracting me almost enough to miss that flash of hurt in his eyes before it disappeared. “She wanted me to go back to Eden and take the crown,” he answered. “I had no interest in it, even then, so she broke up with me.”
That wasn’t at all what I thought he was going to say. It surprised me. Not his lack of interest in ruling Eden. I would be questioning his sanity if he ever told me it was something he wanted to do. He was happy with what his life was now. One of the leaders of Alkwin. He would never want to have control of a place like Eden.
What I couldn’t understand was Maizie’s reasoning. It was one thing to run the idea by him, but I couldn’t see ending a relationship she claimed was so strong over his refusal. Not unless it was for a reason that was more important to her than he had been.
Was she interested in power? Wanting to become the queen of Eden? That wasn’t even something I wanted to suggest. Besides, it didn’t really make sense. If she was only interested in power, she would be pursuing a relationship with Gryffin. He was the future king. Rhydian might be a prince by blood, but everyone who really knew him knew it wasn’t even a title he willingly embraced. She also hadn’t been lying when she said she didn’t think either of our princes would be able to take the crown from Dex.
The only thing that really made sense was that she was mad at the time. She had never really meant for things to end, which was why she was trying to get him back now. It was manipulative, but it wasn’t my place to judge.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
LEEYA
The mood in the dining hall was still low during dinner. The announcement had been made earlier that the funerals for both Mylan and Caine would be tomorrow. Like most of our population, I had no idea what that actually was. As a Healer, I knew the process for dealing with the dead in Eden. Bodies were cremated, their ashes tossed into the wind by Sentry from the top of the wall. It was the only time most of the citizens believed anyone would leave Eden. Well, before all of this had happened.
Things were done differently in Alkwin. Our dead were buried at a certain spot out in the woods. Each grave marked with a stone that had their name carved into it. According to Rhydian, it had been common practice before the war. It also gave people mourning them a place to go when they wanted to feel closer to their lost loved ones.
“How are you feeling?” I asked Aarys when she dropped down in the spot across from me.
She curled her lip and pushed her red hair from her face. I decided not to point out the fact that there was a twig sticking out of it. Aarys was almost never in a bad mood. It was one of the things I loved about her. With her being one of the strongest people we had in Alkwin, it was probably a good idea not to say anything to make it worse.
“I really hope those jerks are left with headaches like this whenever we shoot them with tranqs,” she grumbled.
“They are,” Rhydian said. “I helped Noella test our most recent formula.”
She grunted and stabbed her meat with her fork. “Good.”
“You let Noella tranq you?” Maizie asked, sitting next to Aarys. It also happened to be the seat directly across from Rhydian. “I always knew you had an adventurous side.”
Rhydian nodded, but it was the only response he gave to her flirty tone.
“I’ll get you a pain patch for the head,” I told Aarys as the other seats started to fill. She opened her mouth to argue, but I shook my head. “I don’t like seeing you in pain. Even if it’s only a headache.”
Aarys sank back some and gave me a small smile. Her headache wasn’t even close to some of the injuries others had had, which was the reason I knew she hadn’t wanted to bother Noella with it. She might be young, but Aarys never thought twice about putting others first.
“So, fill me in about Denver,” Gryffin said from where he sat at Aarys’ other side. “I’m having trouble picturing what a city from before the war would even look like.”
“The buildings are similar to the ones in Eden, but they’re not in great shape,” Joury said. “Some are missing entire sections out of them. We really only go into one, which is where we stay when we’re there.”
I perked up, smiling as I faced him. “I’ve been in a few. I found what used to be a store. It still had items on the shelves, like they had just closed up one day and never went back. It was pretty awesome.”
“Really?” he asked. There was a spark of intrigue there that left me certain he, too, would find the beauty in such things. From what I had picked up from some of the others, they didn’t really care much about the past. Not unless it could provide some benefits now. I thought history was fascinating. Actually being able to see it was even more so.
I nodded.
“We usually steer clear of the buildings, because the animals have made homes in them,” Rhydian said. “Leeya took a big risk doing it. Especially alone.”
I shrugged, ignoring the slight scolding note to his tone. “I needed rope. Would you have rather I try to just brace the sides of that ridiculously deep hole and hope I didn’t fall?”
I met his eye, daring him to challenge me on it. While I knew he still wasn’t thrilled that I had risked my life to stay outside after dark the way I had, he also knew he wouldn’t still be here if I hadn’t. The way his expression softened said as much. “No. You would have gotten yourself killed.”
I nodded, then turned back to Gryffin. His eyes were bouncing between us, a smile hidden in them. He liked seeing his brother happy.
“We ended up finding an underground subway tunnel,” I went on. My cheeks threatened to heat at the memory of the time we’d had down there. I pushed it down. “It’s completely closed off from the elements, so the subway car that’s down there is still intact. We didn’t have the time to actually check it out, but it was still pretty cool.”
“Too bad Rhydian had to fall like that in order to find it,” Joury chimed in. At Gryffin’s confused look, she elaborated. “The ground caved in as we were walking back. Leeya said he fell something like fifty feet down.”
“Geez,” Gryffin blew out. He looked to Rhydian, almost like he was checking for damage that had long since healed. Rhydian just shrugged. “It’s got its dangers, but we do what we can to minimize them. Now we know that the ground might not always be stable.”
“Isn’t that just proof that it’s a risk for both of you to be going on the trip?” Maizie jumped in. “I agree that it’s important for Gryffin to go. From what I remember, that bunch is a little crazy. I doubt they would believe he’s alive without seeing it. Shouldn’t Rhydian stay behind in case the worst happens?”
My eyes shifted from her to Alister who was sitting beside her when he leaned forward. “I’ll go if Rhydian doesn’t. I’d love to see it.”
“It’s going to be a quick trip,” I said, hiding my annoyance that she was still pushing this. “There won’t be much time to see anything. Besides, Maizie’s right. It could be dangerous. You need more training before you can be on a Denver trip.”
Alister gave a disappointed sigh and sat back. Maizie looked from him to Rhydian, then to Gryffin. Her brow furrowed.
“Wow, how do I get me some
of that power?” she asked, and I realized it was because no one had questioned that I had made the final decision in it. I had basically spoken for Rhydian, and he hadn’t reacted at all. “I was here for a year, and this one here was the only person who ever listened to me.” She pointed to Rhydian. He looked down at his plate, moving his food around. Gryffin smirked, his gaze once again moving between Rhydian and me. This time I think it was more out of amusement with the situation. Rhydian hadn’t said anything, but I had to assume Gryffin knew about him and Maizie. He probably remembered her from before Rhydian had left Eden.
“Be Orson’s daughter,” Rhydian answered.
I growled and glared at him. “I’m going to start hurting you when you do that.”
Without looking up, he smirked and nudged me with his shoulder. I swore he did it just to bug me at this point. Hell, that had probably been the reason the whole time.
When I looked back up, I found a strange look sitting on Maizie’s face as she looked between the two of us. It made my stomach drop. Had she figured it out? Was she about to call us out in front of everyone? I wouldn’t have really cared, but Joury was sitting here. She was my friend, and I didn’t want her to find out like that. Not coming from Maizie.
“Wait, you’re Orson’s daughter?” she asked before I could start to worry about how to handle it.
“Only by blood,” I answered. It had been common knowledge, even if Rhydian was the only one to ever bring it up. I never considered that it would be something that people didn’t know now.
“But that isn’t enough to get people to listen to you,” Lillith said from my other side. Her almost sharp tone made me look at her. She was a lot like Aarys in the regard that she was rarely angry. The almost smug glare she was shooting Maizie told me she definitely was now. After what she had overheard in that last connection, it was clear she wasn’t at all a fan of the girl. “Although, admittedly, I’ve never tried. I think it has more to do with the fact that these two listen to her and respect what she says.” She pointed between Rhydian and Gryffin, holding her eye for a moment longer before giving her attention to Paxton.
It was everything I could do not to smile. I loved when Lillith let that feisty side out. Even more so when she was doing it to defend me. It was usually the other way around with us.
“And because very few people have it in them to be a leader the way Leeya does,” Aarys chimed in. “She’s the last person anyone should consider crossing.”
Okay, this was getting intense. Rhydian’s low grunt said he knew exactly what was going on, although I couldn’t really stop to ask him how he felt about it. One thing was for sure, though. My girls knew that Maizie was trying to take what was mine, and they were not so subtly making it clear how they felt about that.
Of course, then Gryffin had to chime in. It was all I could do now not to look at Maizie to judge her reaction. If I did, I had a feeling she might be able to pick up on exactly what was going on. Maybe not that it had anything to do with Rhydian, but that she was being told she didn’t come close to matching me in their eyes.
“That’s because she’s a scary ninja ballerina,” Gryffin said, smirking.
“Tell me that’s not your new nickname for me.”
Gryffin shrugged, pointing his fork toward Rhydian. “It could be worse. I still call this one baby brother. That strikes fear in no one’s heart.”
“Our future king, ladies and gentlemen,” Rhydian said, clapping slowly.
Laughter filled the table. It felt good to have a reason to joke around. It helped to take away some of that lingering tension the day had left us all with. The uncertainty about what was to come. It seemed like we had been living in a constant state of that for so long now.
I was sure everyone was as eager for a way to get away from it as I was.
“Hey, if you don’t think I’m up for the job, I will gladly step aside and move into that nice little family home you’re building for yourself,” Gryffin teased. “You can become king. I’ll stay here with a pretty little wife and have some little monsters to chase around.”
“Right,” Rhydian said, giving his brother a wide grin. It was usually the one he only showed Linley or me. At Aarys’ smile at seeing it, I wondered how often any of the others actually did. “There’s nothing you could offer me to convince me to give up that life to become king.”
My eyes moved involuntarily to Maizie. She was looking between the brothers, all of that lightness I had always seen in her gone. It actually made me feel bad. I didn’t think they had any idea what their words were doing to her. It was like they had completely forgotten anyone else was even around.
Despite the trouble she was causing us, I knew Rhydian would never do anything to intentionally hurt Maizie. They might not have a romantic future, but he still saw her as a friend. Now he was inadvertently saying in front of everyone that she couldn’t ever give him what it was he really wanted. Not after Eden had sterilized her at a young age. With him not giving her a reason for not wanting to get back together with her, she had to be wondering now if that was why.
A little head pushed between Rhydian and me, abruptly ending the conversation. I had never been so happy to see Linley. She looked to him and smiled, then dropped her chin down on my shoulder. The little sigh she gave told me she had picked up on his emotions. That she was happy because she knew he was.
“Make a face, Prince Gryffin,” she said, looking to her eldest brother.
Gryffin gave her a teasing little smile. “And whose face should I make, Miss Linley?”
She made a humming sound for a moment, then answered. “Rhydian’s.”
I was confused, wondering if this was some joke between them. I had expected him to try to look stern, the way Rhydian usually did. I was amused at the thought. But that wasn’t what happened.
I sucked in a breath, watching as Gryffin’s face started to change. Not his expression. His hair lengthened, his features shifting. It wasn’t much, given that the two actually looked similar, but before I could even accept what I was seeing, there was a second Rhydian staring back at us.
“You’re a shapeshifter,” I breathed out. My mind raced, so many thoughts clashing through it.
Shifting away from Linley, I jumped up and started moving across the room. Orson looked up as I hurried over. The way his eyes shifted behind me told me Rhydian was right behind. He muttered something, causing Faida to get up. She had just walked away when I reached the table, dropping my hands down on it. Almost unable to contain my excitement.
“What’s going on?” Rhydian asked from just over my shoulder.
I smiled.
“I have an idea.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
RHYDIAN
I was nervous as I walked out of the bathroom and stared down the hallway of the dorm. It was ridiculous. I had slept next to Leeya several times. Every night since Linley entered the community. Well, until we got back from Eden.
This seemed so different though. It wasn’t just me staying in her room with her. It was more like we were living together. Which, technically, I guess we were.
I had never shared a space with anyone before. Where I knew I didn’t have a room of my own that I could go back to whenever I wanted. Of course, I had never been engaged to anyone either. As soon as the house was completed, it wouldn’t just be a room. We would have our own place, away from everyone else.
As I started walking toward the hall, I realized I was also slightly concerned about the others noticing. I hadn’t even thought about it before moving my stuff in there. I’d been too afraid that she would die.
How long would it really take before even the crowded dorm wasn’t enough to keep people from realizing that I was coming out of her room in the morning? It would only take one person before everyone knew. Then our secret would be out.
I just had to hope that didn’t happen before we left for Eden. Now that we had the beginnings of a plan, that wouldn’t be long.
I was so lo
st in thought as I passed through the common area that I almost ran right into Maizie.
“Hey there,” she said, smiling as she grabbed my arms to brace herself.
I stepped back until her hands fell away, looking down at her. She was still dressed. “Going out?”
“Yeah,” she said, tucking her hair behind her ear. She looked nervous, and not in that flirty way that she had been with me since her return. “I’ve been waiting to get in to see Noella. I had to wait until everyone had their basic checkup after getting here, then it got pushed back because of what happened today. She said I could go in before she leaves for the night.”
